Washington, DC (Aug. 7, 2026) – The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) presented the James R. Willis Lifetime Achievement Award to San Antonio, TX criminal defense lawyer Cynthia Orr at a reception during their Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, FL. This award recognizes exceptional accomplishments over a lifetime of distinguished leadership and service on behalf of the law.
Cynthia Eva Hujar Orr is Managing Partner at Goldstein & Orr, where she has attained national prominence defending citizens and entities in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Orr was President of NACDL from 2009-2010 and is currently President of the NACDL Foundation for Criminal Justice Board of Trustees. She was the founding President of the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in 1999, she established the Texas Innocence Network in 2000, served as President of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in 2003, and was Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Criminal Justice Section in 2014. She represents NACDL in the ABA House of Delegates and on the Criminal Justice Section Council. Orr currently serves on the Board of Governors for the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit, on the Texas Board of Law Examiners, and is the Criminal Justice Act Representative for the Western District of Texas. She is the President of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law and Chair of the San Antonio Bar Association Criminal Law Section and serves on its Federal Courts Committee.
“I am grateful to receive this high honor named for James R. Willis,” said Cynthia Orr. “Working to improve the criminal legal process with my highly talented and dedicated colleagues and friends is an unreal dream. It humbles me because I hope that this award means I may have contributed to bettering the lives and futures of others.”
NACDL President Andrew Birrell described Orr as “a consummate advocate for her clients. She was the first person to get admission of error in a death penalty case in the state of Texas. Cynthia is a mentor to us all. She is an example of what a lawyer ought to be. She has a quality of grace that is rarely seen.”
Contacts
Jessie Diamond, Deputy Director, Public Affairs and Communications, (202) 465-7647 or jdiamond@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
